Emmanuel Macron had already excluded the left wing of his majority from the Attal government. With his long press conference on Tuesday January 16, the turn to the right is assumed. Interview with Olivier Guyottot, teacher-researcher in political science strategy at Inseec-Grande École.
RFI: With the themes developed on Tuesday during his long press conference – the unique outfit at school, civic education, graduation ceremonies – the President of the Republic is definitively taking a turn to the right, as also notes the foreign press?
Olivier Guyottot: Yes quite. We had this feeling that he totally took responsibility. When he formed his government, there was a lot of talk about a return of Sarkozy. And indeed, the criticism of the rules, the criticism of too many norms, the return of the uniform, all these things were reminiscent of Sarkozy’s speech at the time of his campaign where, for example, he criticized May 68. He refers to Sardou for both schools, public and private, who is still a conservative figure. Everything is going in that direction. With, also, from a semantic point of view, a somewhat military vocabulary. He talked a lot about rearmament, civic rearmament and mobilization.
As in his December 31 wishes?
Exactly. Always in a bit of a president-manager posture with the “ start-up nation », with a lot of measurements and a lot of figures, in a very proactive and very offensive way. We saw an approach where, roughly speakinghe said that his “ regret is not having done enough, but we did more than the others “. There was still a satisfied.
“It’s a work in progress,” is what he said several times. “We’ve already done quite a bit, but it’s not enough, we’re going to continue. »
With also a bit of a discussion of the method. It’s necessary ” collaborate “, ” cooperate “. I have the feeling that everyone will find a bit of what they come looking for. His critics will continue to criticize him and those who support him will continue to support him. The question we can ask ourselves is: will the Macronist left wing benefit from it? So, there were some flights of fancy on social determinism, on things like that.
THE ” It’s not for me » which he spoke of several times, putting an end to the “ It’s not for me », include more of the least advantaged categories of the population in culture, in sports, in entrepreneurship. It was also at the heart of his speech.
Absolutely, but more focused on the middle classes than the poor classes. From that point of view, there was a difference. One of the questions is, will this put an end to the controversies? Because he talked about Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Rachida Dati, Gérard Depardieu. Will this allow you to move on? That’s a real question.
Rachida Dati who, moreover, announced this morning her candidacy for municipal office in Paris in 2026. When Emmanuel Macron announces birth leave, the regulation of screen time for children, theater at school, is- what is he like in his role? Isn’t he encroaching on the Prime Minister and the government’s borders?
It’s a real question, he’s always been criticized for it. We always found that he took up a lot of space compared to his Prime Ministers. And we stay in there. It’s a bit part of his personality, it’s a bit part of this method which worked well. At certain moments, it reminded me of the first debate against Marine Le Pen where we felt that she did not master certain subjects and that he mastered them very well. It is also a way of showing that he has mastered the subjects, of going into detail.
We can ask ourselves the question of knowing what will be left, so to speak, for Gabriel Attal when he makes his general policy declaration in a few days, probably next week?
It is also a real question, in relation to the balance of roles between president and Prime Minister. Clearly, the road map has been drawn and, sometimes, the measures have been given. So, he still made sure to make it clear: “ There you go, they will explain to you how they will implement it in practice. “Obviously, the all-powerful president side,” Jupiterian “, this will open the door to criticism and not extinguish it, quite the contrary.
The Head of State, during these wishes, announced a “ major meeting with the nation “. It was this long speech on Tuesday, unprecedented at this time, rare since 2017, this had only been the case during the crisis of “ yellow vests “. Do the measures announced yesterday live up to what was planned and this famous “big meeting”? Or are we clearly falling short and the relaunch of the five-year term will have to wait a little longer?
I don’t think we can call this a “big meeting” because I don’t have the impression that it will fundamentally change things. It’s true that it had a bit of an old-fashioned feel, it was a bit reminiscent of the ORTF, it was a bit reminiscent of De Gaulle. Afterwards, I think that it remains an exercise that he has mastered quite well and that, from this point of view, it has allowed him to regain control of something a little. Sometimes, it was a bit reminiscent of the “great debate” and it’s true that, in the exchange, he is often quite comfortable. Rather, it allowed him to shine and show that he is still in charge. But fundamentally, I don’t think this will change things. There were themes that were highlighted a lot, such as health, school, afterwards, it was linked to the questions. But I find that we have talked very little about the ecological question, purchasing power for example.
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